Week of September 22, 2008

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Busy week, traveled back from France on Tuesday, I just love those long flights. With spring around the corner, the village farmers are getting ready for some planting. Before I left for France I volunteered to help some of the farmers when I returned. So Thursday I spent the day working in the fields. Not as productive as poker but it goes a long way with the locals.

I started organizing and cleaning up all the pictures I took in France, well over 1,200. I will work hard to reduce the number before I post them so not to bore everybody. I also kept a detailed journal of the trip I will work to pair it down also for the same reason.

As I thought, I was not ready to go back to poker play full guns. I played about 500 hands at the 2 cent 5 cent tables just to get my head back in the game. I do not keep detailed stats at those levels as I play significantly looser then I do at my normal level of 50 cent one dollar tables. I won around $40.00 in those 500 hands so I was happy with that. I only played 111 hands at the higher level tables. That was one and three quarter hours of play, it is tough to get back to work after a two and a half week vacation. I was very happy with the quality of my play, but I need to bump the hours up.

I won $42.80 for the short week at the higher tables for a total of a little over $80.00 for the week which is plenty for a person living in Botswana, where a U.S. dollar can last a person a week. It is nothing for a person that just spent two and a half weeks in France were a U.S. dollar will not last five minutes. Just another reason I need to increase my play, to pay off my last vacation. My hourly rate was close to $30.00 per hour which I was happy with. Since I am just getting back into the game, I played very tight, seeing less then 10% of the flops. That means out of the 111 hands I actually played in less then 11 of them.

I tried some of the new strategies I learned from reading Dan Harrington’s books. Below are two examples. The idea or this strategy is to every once in a while (maybe 10% of the time) play middle connectors or almost connected cards (single gap), sometimes suited and sometimes not suited. Connected cards would be two cards that are right next to each other like 7, 8 or 8, 9 almost connected would be (single gap) would be like 5, 7 there is a one card gap between them. Middle means less then Ten and higher then a 4. Sometimes you lead out with this hand (first to bet) and sometimes you just call, all depending on your position at the table. With this strategy if you just call and hit on the flop you will win a big pot, since no one would think you called with what you had, if you miss you just fold and lose a little. If you lead with a bet preflop and hit no one will think you really hit, if you do not hit, but high cards come you can act like you hit. So your chances of hitting a hidden straight are very high, and a medium flush if the cards were suited are also high.

In the two below hands I played 8 T one time they were suited and one time there were off suite. One time I lead the betting and one time I called.

POKERSTARS GAME #20653651353: HOLD'EM NO LIMIT ($0.50/$1.00) - 2008/09/24 - 07:54:01 (ET)
Table 'Pan' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: DUG ($93 in chips)
Seat 2: alexbibi20 ($50.55 in chips)
Seat 3: zZzTILT ($18.50 in chips)
Seat 4: Tobsen ($183.30 in chips)
Seat 6: Checkmater ($94.50 in chips)
Seat 7: badcallm8 ($84.40 in chips)
Seat 8: ibiza007 ($107.30 in chips)
DUG: posts small blind $0.50
alexbibi20: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DUG [Th 8h]
zZzTILT: folds
Tobsen: folds
Checkmater: folds
badcallm8: raises $2 to $3
ibiza007: folds
DUG: calls $2.50 In the past I would not play this hand, but the concept here is if you hit you have a good chance of winning a lot of money and if you miss you only lose 2.5 blinds, so I called. I put badcallm8 on 2 high cards, KQ, KJ, KT maybe AK
alexbibi20: calls $2 This was not expected maybe he has a pair.
*** FLOP *** [8s 4d 9d]
DUG: bets $6 Since I hit a pair of 8’s based on my assumption that alex had a pair and Badcallm8 has 2 high cards, I make a bet about ¾ of the pot.
alexbibi20: calls $6
badcallm8: folds What I expected one player to stay in, just not the one I expected to stay in.

*** TURN *** [8s 4d 9d] [3s]
DUG: bets $11 Since he only called he must be on a draw, as pair higher then a 9 or a set would have raised because of the chance I was on a flush draw.
alexbibi20: calls $11 Ok, so he likes to chase hands.
*** RIVER *** [8s 4d 9d 3s] [2s] I doubt the 2 or spade helped so I need to keep betting.
DUG: bets $12 about ¼ the pot so he will call because he will be getting 4 to 1 odds on his money.
XL883 joins the table at seat #9
alexbibi20: calls $12
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DUG: shows [Th 8h] (a pair of Eights)
alexbibi20: mucks hand
DUG collected $64 from pot While I read the starting hands wrong, which player had which cards, I won a very large pot because I hit the flop and had a chaser in the hand against me.
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $67 Rake $3
Board [8s 4d 9d 3s 2s]
Seat 1: DUG (small blind) showed [Th 8h] and won ($64) with a pair of Eights
Seat 2: alexbibi20 (big blind) mucked [Ac Kh]
Seat 3: zZzTILT folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: Tobsen folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Checkmater folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: badcallm8 folded on the Flop
Seat 8: ibiza007 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)


POKERSTARS GAME #20659495415: HOLD'EM NO LIMIT ($0.50/$1.00) - 2008/09/24 - 13:42:03 (ET)
Table 'Menippe III' 9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: wushusuni ($159.35 in chips)
Seat 2: DUG ($101.50 in chips)
Seat 3: massageman2 ($157 in chips)
Seat 4: mentalo09 ($102.40 in chips)
Seat 5: Hgh_Ssociety ($109.55 in chips)
Seat 6: ilovegyoza ($102 in chips)
Seat 8: stickerbushT ($35.80 in chips)
Seat 9: Rusty Nails ($95.70 in chips)
Hgh_Ssociety: posts small blind $0.50
ilovegyoza: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DUG [8s Tc]
stickerbushT: folds
Rusty Nails: folds
wushusuni: folds
DUG: raises $2.50 to $3.50 This time I raise with 8T off suite to make it look like I have a high pair, or 2 high cards like AK so I can play the hand 2 ways, one if I hit and the other I can make it look like I hit.
massageman2: calls $3.50
mentalo09: folds
Hgh_Ssociety: folds
ilovegyoza: calls $2.50
*** FLOP *** [8h 3d 6h] Wow three callers.
AUSZAHLUNG has returned
ilovegyoza: bets $10 Large bet must have at least a pair or a flush draw and he is making a semi bluff (a bluff that has a nice chance to hit).
DUG: calls $10 I have middle pair, but if a K or A hits I can act like I just hit my cards. Remeber I lead the betting preflop. So I can hit a T or an 8 and most likly have the best hand the other guy will never know it. So I have two ways to win. Also because of my position I am last to act to the other guy has to make his move first.
massageman2: folds
*** TURN *** [8h 3d 6h] [As] Perfect now I will make it look like I hit the Ace.
massageman2 leaves the table
AUSZAHLUNG is sitting out
AUSZAHLUNG leaves the table
Fl0Sch joins the table at seat #3
ilovegyoza: checks This is good this shows he is afraid of the Ace or he is trying to trap me.
DUG: bets $15 The pot is $30.00 so I bet just half the pot, any higher he might think it is a bluff and call or raise.
ilovegyoza: folds Perfect.
Uncalled bet ($15) returned to DUG
DUG collected $29.50 from pot
prince119 joins the table at seat #7
DUG: doesn't show hand
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $31 Rake $1.50
Board [8h 3d 6h As]
Seat 1: wushusuni folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: DUG collected ($29.50)
Seat 3: massageman2 folded on the Flop
Seat 4: mentalo09 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Hgh_Ssociety (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: ilovegyoza (big blind) folded on the Turn
Seat 8: stickerbushT folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: Rusty Nails folded before Flop (didn't bet)


As you can see both hands played out nicely in two different ways, if I would have missed the flop or got a lot of resistance I would have simple folded. So with these hands if you play them correctly you will lose a little or win a lot.

P.S. The picture is of the orphan kids in our village greeting Margarite on our return from France. I am not sure if they were happy to see her or just trying to get some of the chocolate she brought back for them.